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Monarch reads out Prime Minister Boris Johnson s post-pandemic agenda
Queen Elizabeth ahead of the Queen s Speech in the House of Lord s Chamber during the State Opening of Parliament in London. Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth reads the Queen s Speech on the The Sovereign s Throne in the House of Lords chamber. AFP
Queen Elizabeth arrives with Prince Charles in the House of Lord s Chamber. Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth walks behind the Imperial State Crown as they pass through the Royal Gallery, before delivering the Queen s Speech. AFP
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer lead MPs in a socially distanced single file line through the Central Lobby during the State Opening of Parliament. AFP
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Lord Edward Lister, a former Downing St chief of staff, has revealed that the UK has started formal steps for a free-trade agreement with the Arab Gulf countries.
Mr Lister, co-chair of the UAE-UK Business Council, told an online forum on Wednesday that unprecedented developments in forging trade links were coming. There is a lot of work under way at the moment – consultation is shortly about to start on it – on new trade arrangements into the Gulf, which will be a free-trade agreement, he said. That s a major piece of government work.
Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of State and the other co-chair of the Business Council, told the forum that as the UAE reaches its 50th anniversary, the two countries friendship was going through a revival at the moment .
ASEAN Chairman’s statement:
The ASEAN-United Kingdom (UK) Open-Ended Troika Meeting was held on 8 April 2021 via videoconference to discuss the critical situation on the COVID-19 pandemic, initiatives to build a resilient and sustainable economic recovery, and efforts to address the adverse impact of climate change.
The Meeting was chaired by The Honourable Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Minister of Foreign Affairs II of Brunei Darussalam, in his capacity as the Chair of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), and attended by His Excellency Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia, as the incoming Chair of the AMM, His Excellency Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN, and The Right Honourable Dominic Raab MP, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK. Other Foreign Ministers and high representatives of ASEAN Member States al
ASEAN Chairman’s statement:
The ASEAN-United Kingdom (UK) Open-Ended Troika Meeting was held on 8 April 2021 via videoconference to discuss the critical situation on the COVID-19 pandemic, initiatives to build a resilient and sustainable economic recovery, and efforts to address the adverse impact of climate change.
The Meeting was chaired by The Honourable Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Minister of Foreign Affairs II of Brunei Darussalam, in his capacity as the Chair of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), and attended by His Excellency Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia, as the incoming Chair of the AMM, His Excellency Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN, and The Right Honourable Dominic Raab MP, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK. Other Foreign Ministers and high representatives of ASEAN Member States al